The Beginning of the End
by SkitsMix
Summary: (Starts a couple of years after the end of season seven of the 2003 series) The Foot have been inactive, there's been no alien invasions or megalomaniacs bent on galactic domination lately, and everything seems pretty much peaceful and quiet in New York. But Turtle Luck dictates that this peace is most likely just the calm before the biggest storm of their lives...
1. Chapter 1

_**February 16th, 2009**_

"C'mon, hurry up, we're gonna be late!" Michelangelo urged his brothers as he bounded backwards down the tunnel leading towards April and Casey's place. He had a brightly-wrapped package tucked under one arm, a tightly-sealed tupperware container under the other, and a broad grin on his face.

"If I remember correctly, _you're_ the reason we're running late in the first place, Mikey," Donatello countered with mildly exasperated amusement as he adjusted the strap of his duffel bag over his shoulder. "Did you really have to wait until the very last minute to wrap Maria's present?" Despite his words though, he lengthened his stride a little anyway to lessen the distance between himself and Mikey.

Raphael let out a sharp little snort of laughter as he strode along beside Don. "It's Mikey, he leaves _everything_ to the last minute," he commented dryly, smirking at the orange-banded turtle ahead of them. "I'm still not convinced he can even tell the time." Mikey let out a mock-offended "hey!" even as Leonardo let out a quiet chuckle.

"Raph makes a good point," Leo said sagely from his place at Don's other side, a little smile twitching the corners of his mouth as Mikey let out a second protest at the teasing. "I mean, the number of times you've been late for practice, Mikey, or procrastinated on the things you're supposed to be doing, or just 'lost track of time'…"

"I dunno, guys," Don broke in with a grin before Mikey could say anything in his own defense. "Mikey must have _some_ ability to tell the time, otherwise how do you explain his almost uncanny ability to land on the couch just before the start of every single Silver Sentry episode?"

"Base instinct," Raph deadpanned.

Mikey let out a playfully indignant huff, his nose in the air even as his mouth twitched with suppressed mirth. "Oh, I see how it is! I guess this just means that none of you want to partake of the reason I was running ever so slightly behind schedule then!" He spun around and started loping forwards, glancing back over his shoulder at his brothers with a mischievous grin. "I'll just have to give all these freshly-baked cinnamon rolls cupcakes to people who'll appreciate them!"

His three brothers shared a look of amused contrition, and increased their pace a little to keep up. "Now, let's not jump to rash conclusions here," Don said placatingly, even as Leo spoke up as well with a soothing, "Now just hold up a minute, Mikey…"

Then Raph lunged past them both with a growled, "C'mere, you…!", apparently intent on tackling his shorter brother and taking said cupcakes off him by force. Mikey let out a high-pitched yelp and took off running, laughter trailing behind him in his wake as Raph thundered after him. Leo and Don glanced at each other with wry amusement, then took off in pursuit.

...

April glanced at the clock as she put the finishing touches on dinner, the steam from the roast beef and vegetables rising up and wreathing to wreathe her head and filling the apartment with their warm scent. She was a little surprised that the boys hadn't turned up yet, but just as she was thinking that, she heard a dull thud against the basement door that lead to the tunnels. It was followed by a rapid tattoo of knocking that sounded more like someone kicking the door, which was swiftly cut off and followed by a familiar, muffled yelp.

_Right on time_, April thought with amusement, a smile curling her lips upwards as she listened to Casey thunder down the stairs to answer the door and greet their guests. She finished setting set the platters of food out on the table, then turned to share a fond smile with the mutant rat who'd just finished laying out the cutlery.

Splinter met her smile with a wry one of his own and rolled his eyes slightly. "Kids," he murmured with resigned amusement, and April chuckled in agreement.

The two headed for the living room, just in time to see Mikey prance through the doorway from the staircase with Maria riding on his shoulders, his hands holding her securely around the waist. "Here comes the birthday girl!" he crowed as Maria babbled enthusiastically from her perch, her chubby little hands drumming on the top of Mikey's head as he carried her further into the room. "Hi April! Hi Master Splinter!"

"Sorry we're late," Donatello added apologetically as he followed Mikey inside, with Leo and Raph trailing in behind him. Casey brought up the rear, carrying the things that Mikey had brought with him, and moved past them to put them down on the kitchen counter before returning to the group.

"Don't worry about it, guys, you're right on time," April reassured them with a broad smile. "It's good to see you all here!" She gave them each an enthusiastic hug of welcome, which they returned warmly.

Then Mikey zoomed back up to the group with Maria still on his shoulders, halting beside April and bouncing a little on his toes. "Hey, where's _my_ hug, huh?" he asked with a broad grin. Raph automatically reached for him to smack the back of his head, then stopped short when he realised that Maria was in the way.

"I'll give you your hug once you stop winding up my daughter," April retorted with a grin.

Mikey immediately lifted the giggling Maria back off his shoulders and handed her over to a startled-looking Raphael, then held his arms out wide. "All right, hit me!" As April hugged him, he wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her clear off the ground, spinning her around enthusiastically. April let out a startled squeak and hung on, laughing.

"Hey, that's _my_ wife you're manhandling there, Mikey," Casey said in mock-warning, though he couldn't hide his grin.

Mikey stopped spinning and blinked up at him innocently. "What? Don't tell me you're jealous!" He put April back down with exaggerated care, ignoring her playful smack against his shoulder, then suddenly swept Casey up in another enthusiastic hug, unable to lift the much taller man quite clear of the ground but spinning him around anyway, with Casey's feet dragging across the floor.

Casey yelped and flailed in protest, or at least as much as he could manage past his laughter. "Mikey! Quit it, ya goofball!"

Mikey just laughed as well and finally put Casey back down, letting go and quickly stepping back out of immediate smacking range. "C'mon Casey, you enjoyed that, admit it!"

"I ain't admitting nothin'!" Casey retorted, exaggeratedly brushing himself off.

Raph smirked at him, Maria still cradled in his arm and babbling cheerfully. "Whassa matter, Case', worried that enjoyin' affection ain't manly enough for ya?"

"Oh like you're one to talk, Raph!" Don interjected with a grin. "Pot calling the kettle black much?"

"Yeah, stop hidin' behind my daughter and I'll show you just how 'affectionate' I can be!" Casey challenged, grinning as well even as he made a show of cracking his knuckles.

Leo quickly stepped between the two, hands held out peaceably. "Guys, guys," he said soothingly, trying to hold back his own little smile of amusement. "Let's try to _not_ trash the apartment for once, okay?"

"Especially if you all want to _eat_ tonight," April broke in dryly, stepping in to retrieve Maria from Raphael's arms. "Let's not forget the reason you're all here in the first place."

"April is right," Splinter added as he gave his sons a mildly reproving look, though it was softened by the humour in his eyes. "We should not let all her hard work go to waste by letting the food get cold."

There was a chorus of hearty agreement, and the whole group moved to seat themselves around the dining table, with Mikey bounding ahead to plant himself firmly in one of the chairs next to Maria's high chair.

Dinner was a cheerful, boisterous affair, with April and Casey regaling the turtles and their sensei with stories of Maria's first birthday party earlier that day, along with other things she'd gotten up to since the last time they'd visited. In return, Splinter shared some of his own stories from when his sons had also been only a year old, causing much amusement and some embarrassed consternation amongst said turtles.

Finally dinner was done and compliments about the fine meal were showered upon April until she blushed bright red. The dishes were cleared away to make room for ice cream and Mikey's cupcakes, which he presented with much aplomb. One candle was planted in the center of a cupcake and carefully lit, then placed on the table in front of Maria (and safely out of her reach). Everyone gathered around Maria's chair to sing happy birthday (enthusiastically, but not exactly all in tune or even in time) while April and Master Splinter took turns taking photos.

Once the song was done, the photos taken, and the candle blown out and set aside, dessert was devoured with just as much enthusiasm and enjoyment as dinner had been. Finally the last crumb had been consumed and the last bit of ice cream licked off the spoons, and everyone leaned back in their chairs with full bellies, content and satisfied.

"I declare Maria's first birthday dinner a complete success!" Mikey stated with firm conviction, one finger pointed in the air and a broad grin on his face.

"Hear, hear!" Don agreed cheerfully, and was echoed by the others. "A most successful dinner indeed - and here's to looking forward to many, many more to come!" Another round of agreement followed, before Mikey pushed away from the table and bounded to his feet.

"And now the birthday girl gets to open her present!" Mikey stated, deftly lifting Maria out of her high chair and settling her in the crook of one arm, where she giggled and tugged on the ends of his bandanna. "Come, April, we shall shower your daughter with gifts!"

"What about the rest of us?" Raph asked, raising a brow ridge at his grinning brother even as April chuckled and got to her feet.

Mikey just gave Raph a wide-eyed look. "The rest of you get to clean up!" he replied matter-of-factly as he wrapped his free arm around April's shoulders. "April cooked dinner and I cooked the cupcakes, which means that you're all on clean-up duty. Them's the rules!" With that, he steered the grinning April out of the dining area and into the living room, a chortling Maria cradled securely against his plastron.

Leo just shook his head with a tolerant little sigh. "He's got a point," he said with rueful amusement as he rose from his seat as well. "C'mon, it shouldn't take the rest of us too long."

Between the four of them (Master Splinter remained seated at the dining table to supervise the cleaning and make sure no short cuts were taken), everything was soon cleaned up, dried, and put away. That done, they trooped back out into the living room, where Mikey had gleefully helped Maria open the big box that had held the smaller individual gifts from each member of their family.

The three of them were wearing jaunty paper hats that Mikey had folded from the brightly coloured paper he'd used to wrap the box containing Maria's presents. Said presents were scattered in a semicircle around Mikey and Maria where they were sitting in the middle of the floor, as the one-year-old thoroughly inspected each one. Occasionally she'd hold one of the items out to Mikey, babbling a few nonsensical words. Mikey would accept the item and regard it with solemn intensity before making a comment and handing it back, while April observed fondly from her place in one end of the couch.

Mikey looked up at the others as they entered and grinned cheekily at them. "About time! You missed all the fun of the present unwrapping! Of course, Maria likes _my_ present the best."

"You goofball," Don commented with a grin. "How can you even tell?"

"'Cause she keeps picking it up and hitting me with it!" Mikey replied cheerfully, just as Maria smacked him with the little patchwork, stuffed turtle clutched in her hand. "See?"

Casey laughed and shook his head, then dropped down into the couch beside April and wrapped his arm around her as she settled comfortably against his side. Don joined Mikey on the floor, where Maria promptly offered him one of her other toys, which he accepted with a smile. Meanwhile Splinter settled into one of the armchairs, Raph sprawled bonelessly in the other, his legs hanging over the side, and Leo perched on the armrest of Splinter's chair.

"Don't get _too_ comfortable, guys," Leo reminded them, reaching out with one foot to poke Mikey in the leg. "We'll be heading out on patrol soon, remember."

Mikey flopped over onto his shell, his paper hat falling off in the process, and groaned theatrically. "Aww, but _Leo_… it's cold and wet and horrible out there! Can't we stay here where it's nice and warm and dry?"

"As much as I'd like to indulge you, Mikey, we've got to do _something_ to work off all that ice cream and cake," Leo replied dryly. "Besides, we haven't checked the west side docks much lately, and I've got a hunch we'll find some action there tonight."

His brothers perked up at that, and Mikey rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, you're right about the cake and ice cream, at least," he admitted. "That stuff does go straight to my hips if I'm not careful!"

"That's what ya say 'bout everything y'eat, Mikey!" Casey teased. "Somehow I think you gettin' fat is the last thing you gotta worry 'bout!"

"You wouldn't be saying that if you actually saw just how much junk food he goes through," Don said blandly, and Raph snickered and muttered something about Mikey being a living garbage disposal.

Mikey let out a huff at his brothers' ribbing and grinned back up at Casey. "Ignore them," he mock-whispered. "They're just jealous of my fantastic figure."

"Only in your own mind, Mikey," Raph deadpanned.

They stayed in the apartment for a little while longer, exchanging comfortable, idle banter while Mikey and Don played with Maria and her new toys. Eventually Maria was yawning widely, and April declared it her bedtime. She heaved herself off the couch and scooped her daughter up in her arms. "Say goodnight, Maria!"

The little girl obediently murmured "Nininini!" then yawned again and blinked sleepily, snuggling down into her mother's arms.

"I think that's our cue, guys," Leo commented with a little smile as he stood up. "Good night, Maria. Thanks for the dinner and everything, April, Casey."

"Anytime, Leo," April replied with a warm smile, and Casey nodded in agreement as he stood up from the couch as well. "It was good seeing you all again."

"Yeah, you guys should visit more often!" Casey added. "'Specially now that I've got regular hours down at the garage, we can schedule things better!"

"And now that Maria's big enough, we can visit you guys at the Lair more often, too," April said as she headed for the corridor leading to the bedrooms.

"Sounds like a plan," Leo agreed amiably, then looked around at his brothers. "C'mon guys, we better get going before it gets much later."

Raph heaved himself up out of his armchair and headed for the door, giving Casey's arm a friendly punch as he passed. "Later, bonehead."

"Later, shellbrain," Casey replied with a grin as he gave Raph's shoulder a return punch.

Meanwhile, Mikey piled the scattered toys back into the box with Don's help, adding the paper hats in as well, then bounced back up to his feet. "G'night guys!" he said cheerfully, echoed by Don as he stood up a little more sedately and pushed the box of toys to the side of the room, out of the way, then retrieved his duffel bag.

"I will see you back at the Lair, my sons," Splinter said, still sitting in his armchair. "Be careful."

"Always, Sensei," Leo reassured him, ushering his brothers out of the door.

"Don't wait up!" Mikey called back, then snickered as Leo let out an exasperated huff and shoved at his shell to get him moving.


	2. Chapter 2

They left the apartment through the basement tunnel, only emerging from a manhole in a quiet, darkened alley once they were a safe distance away from their friends' home. Though Karai and the Foot had been quiet and inactive for over a year now, the Turtles still weren't going to risk letting themselves be seen entering or leaving the apartment above the antiques store. The Foot weren't the only ones they had to worry about.

In moments they had scaled the nearby fire escape and were on the rooftops, moving swiftly and silently. The night was cloudy and cold, the buildings and ground slicked with the remainder of rain from earlier in the day. It meant that they had to be a little more careful about their footing, but they still moved easily from one rooftop to the next, mostly unbothered by the chill and the damp. They remained silent and alert for trouble, steadily working their way towards the western docks.

The trip was uneventful though - it seemed the poor weather had kept most people indoors, and the streets were a little quieter than usual. It didn't take the Turtles long to reach their destination, and as they reached the edge of the warehouses that lined the western docks, Leo signalled a halt.

As the others gathered around him at the edge of the rooftop and crouched down in the sheltering shadows, Raph elbowed Leo in the side. "A hunch, huh?" he murmured, smirking in the dark. "Care to share just how you got this so-called hunch, bro?"

"I may or may not have overheard a few things," Leo replied casually, his expression somewhat smug. "It's amazing what you can learn with a little bit of patience."

Raph snorted quietly, and Mikey leaned in to grin at them both. "Too bad patience isn't really Raph's strong point, huh?" He quickly ducked, avoiding Raph's retaliatory smack as Raph's hand whooshed through the air just above Mikey's head.

Meanwhile Don had dug his night vision goggles out of his duffel bag and put them on, and was busy scanning the nearest warehouses. "No sign of movement around here," he informed the others. "If there is something going on, it's most likely further in. Less chance of any random passers-by catching sight of anything."

Leo nodded. "Agreed. Thanks, Donnie. Let's keep moving, but when we find them, no charging in straight off the bat, all right? I want to find out just who we're dealing with here first."

Raph just let out another soft snort, but nodded reluctantly as Leo looked at him, and Mikey gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up. "Recon and intel gathering first, gotchya!"

They began moving again, Don in the lead this time with his night vision goggles still on. The four of them ghosted carefully across the warehouse roofs, alert for any sound or movement. They'd covered almost half of the warehouses in the area before Don suddenly halted at the edge of a roof and gestured for his brothers to join him as he dropped down into a crouch, adjusting the settings on his goggles. The other three turtles swiftly gathered around him, also keeping low.

"What've you got, Donnie?" Leo murmured almost soundlessly as he knelt by Don's side, his head turning as he scanned the warehouses ahead for any sign of movement. Mikey was on Don's other side, doing the same as Leo and fidgeting with reined in energy, while Raph kept a wary eye on the rear.

"Heat signatures in the second warehouse over," Don replied, just loud enough for his brothers to hear him. "At least ten, maybe up to twenty people - I'll be able to get a better count when we're closer." He adjusted his goggles again and frowned. "And according to the readings I'm getting... I think they've got another batch of that modified alien weaponry. A _big_ batch."

Mikey blinked and turned to stare wide-eyed at Don. "What?" he hissed, still careful to keep his voice down. "But I thought we'd taken care of the last of that stuff months ago!"

"So did I," Leo murmured with a frown. "But if Don's right about what they've got-"

"Which I usually am," Don interjected sagely.

Leo just let out a faint sigh and gave Don an unamused look before he continued. "Then we're going to need to find out where they got it from - and who it's going to. Could just be a cache that they've been keeping in reserve, could be they've figured out some way to manufacture it themselves. We need to know."

Raph glanced back at his brothers, frowning. "Which I'm guessin' means that we gotta play the silent little eavesdropper game for hours insteada just goin' in there and bustin' heads, huh," he grumbled.

"Unfortunately for your lack of patience and fondness for violence, yes, you guessed right," Leo replied dryly. He paused for a beat, then gave Raph a faint smile. "At least, until we can locate someone sufficiently high up in the chain of command for us to grab so you can scare the information we need out of them."

Raph blinked, then smirked toothily. "Works for me."

Mikey snickered but wisely refrained from commenting, and Don just rolled his eyes behind his goggles as he continued to peer over at the active warehouse. "There are a couple of guards at each corner of the warehouse, but we should be able to get onto the roof without any trouble," he murmured absently. "From there we'll be able to get to the catwalks and support beams inside - as far as I can tell, there's nobody in the upper levels of the warehouse. They're all on the ground floor."

"Do they have any other security?" Leo asked quietly. "Cameras, anything?"

"Can't tell for sure from here," Don replied. "Don't think so, though, I'm not getting much in the way of power readings apart from the weapons and the lights. These old warehouses don't usually have much in the way of built-in security, and it'd be a lot of effort for them to install their own, unless they're planning to use this place long-term."

"Only one way to find out!" Mikey broke in, shifting his weight impatiently. "C'mon, let's get moving, it's _cold_ out here!"

Leo sighed. "All right, all right. Headsets on, guys." He pulled his headset out of one of the pouches in his belt and slipped it on, and his brothers followed suit. "Don, you've got point - let us know as soon as you find out anything new. Mikey, watch his back." They both nodded at the orders, and Leo continued. "Raph, I want you outside, keeping an eye on the perimeter. If anyone leaves or arrives, I want to know about it."

"Keepin' me away from temptation, huh?" Raph asked dryly, raising a brow ridge.

"That, and you're the best at breaking through anything that gets in your way if things go wrong," Leo pointed out crisply.

Raph considered this for a moment, then gave a short nod. "True," he conceded, then gave Leo a questioning look. "Speaking of which, what's the plan if things do go wrong?"

"Take down as many of them as necessary for all of us to get out safely, then regroup and leave the rest for the authorities to handle," Leo answered without hesitation, before his mouth quirked in a wry smile. "Of course, that depends on just _how_ things go wrong. Plans rarely survive contact with the enemy, after all. We might need to destroy the weapons on the way out - Donnie, you got anything that can manage that?"

Don just patted the duffel bag slung over his shoulder and grinned, his goggles making the expression more ominous than usual. "I think I've got a few things in here that'll do the trick."

"Of course you do," Leo murmured blandly as Mikey snickered at him and gave Don's head an affectionate rub, which Don tolerated with good grace. "Silly question. All right, let's get going."

They silently crossed over to the next roof, moving slowly to give Don more time to better analyse the target warehouse as they drew nearer. After a few long moments, Don murmured a quiet update on the gang's numbers - closer to twenty, including the eight or so guards around the outside of the warehouse - and confirmed that there was no active surveillance. He gave the all-clear, and one by one they leapt over to the roof of the occupied warehouse and gathered at the edge of the dusty, grime-covered skylight.

The grime and dirt coating the glass prevented them from making out much detail of what was going on below, but they could at least see the vague shapes of almost a dozen people milling around a couple of large moving vans parked in the middle of the floor. Some of the people were loading crates into the vans, and more crates were stacked haphazardly around the walls of the warehouse.

One thing was clear though - whoever this gang was, they didn't look like Purple Dragons.

When they'd all had a good look at what they could see of the warehouse's interior, Don set about silently working open one of the skylight windows while the others kept watch. It didn't take him long, and once it was loose, Raph held it open while the others slipped through. Leo was the last one, and he paused for a moment to rest his hand on Raph's shoulder before he swung himself through the window and landed soundlessly on a support beam inside. Raph eased the window closed again, then ghosted off to the edge of the roof to keep an eye on the gang members around the outside of the warehouse.

The three turtles inside the warehouse lurked in the shadows near the ceiling, spreading out and carefully slinking along the support beams until they could get to the catwalks lower down. Now that they were inside and closer, they could get a better look at the gang members. They seemed a mismatched lot, with no apparent theme in the way they dressed. And despite the crates of alien-based weaponry they were loading into the vans, none of them were armed with any of said weaponry. Their equipment tended towards the more normal thug fare - pipes and crowbars, chains and knives.

Leo gradually worked his way along to the far end of the warehouse, trying to find someone who looked like they were in charge amongst the thugs below. Don and Mikey had gone the other way, likewise trying to spot anyone who seemed important.

But if there was anyone like that around, they weren't out on the floor amongst the goons loading the vans. Trying to find out anything useful via eavesdropping was also proving to be less than fruitful; apart from the occasional gripe about having to move the heavy crates around, the thugs weren't being particularly talkative. The stacks of crates around the sides of the warehouse were gradually diminishing, and the trucks were filling up.

Outside, Raph was getting bored and impatient. He silently circled the roof, checking on the guards posted at each corner, but they were doing nothing of interest. "Anything yet?" he murmured over the headset, idly flexing his hands to keep them warm and limber in the night's chill.

"Nothing yet," Leo replied, his voice whisper-quiet. "Don, Mikey?"

"Nothing of interest so far, but there's a room in this corner I want to check out," Don murmured. "It looks like an office of some sort. I think it's a safe bet that whoever's in charge would be holed up all nice and cozy-like in there."

Raph let out a faint snort. "Figures." He went back to prowling around the rooftop, occasionally pausing to listen. He could hear the occasional murmur of words over the headset as Don snuck into a position where he could see into the inner room and described what he could make out to Leo and Mikey. It didn't really interest or concern Raph, so he mostly tuned it out and focused instead on his surroundings.

After a few minutes, the sound of an engine drawing nearer caught Raph's attention, and he dropped down into a low crouch and moved across the roof towards it. The first thing he saw was the glow of headlights approaching, reflecting off the walls of the surrounding warehouses.

Then a gaudily painted muscle car turned off the narrow road that led between the clustered buildings and pulled up by the side of the warehouse's main doors. The engine cut out, and four figures exited the vehicle. Raphael recognised at least two of them; major players in the ranks of the Purple Dragons. The other two also looked vaguely familiar, in a generic Purple Dragon lackey sort of way, and they carried boxy looking briefcases with them.

"We got Dragons here," Raph hissed into his headset, his eyes never leaving the gangsters as they halted just outside the warehouse doors.

"A couple of the new guys just left the inner room," Don added, just as a small group of thugs emerged from the building to meet the Dragons, and the group began talking.

Even though Raph wasn't close enough to clearly hear what they were saying, there was no doubt who was in charge of the situation. "Four of them, an' I recognise two of Hun's top boys. Looks like they're here to make a deal for those guns."

"Roger that," Leo murmured back. "See if you can get a good look at whoever the Dragons are talking to."

Raphael just grunted softly in reply and crept along the edge of the roof, trying to get a better view of the people below while still remaining out of sight himself. Before he could get a decent look though, the group moved back inside the warehouse. "Damn, they've gone back in."

"I see 'em," Mikey's voice broke in quietly over the headsets. "Man, I'm not sure who's uglier - our old Dragon buddies or these new guys."

"Mikey…" Leo murmured reprovingly.

Mikey just replied with a faint snicker before continuing. "I don't recognise any of the new guys - I don't think they're any of the thugs or lowlifes we've encountered before." He paused for a moment. "They look almost… military."

"Bishop's men, maybe?" Don murmured back. "We haven't seen or heard anything from Bishop for months - maybe this is what he's been up to."

"It's possible," Leo replied, though he sounded doubtful. "But it doesn't make much sense. Why would Bishop be selling weapons to the Dragons?"

"Maybe he's strapped for cash," Mikey suggested. "Or they might not be related to Bishop at all - they could just be, like, a military unit gone rogue. Disillusioned by the current leadership and striking out on their own!"

"You've been readin' too many comic books, Mikey," Raph commented sourly, ignoring Mikey's huff of protest. "Doesn't really matter who they are right now. What's goin' on in there anyway?"

"They've just about finished loading the vans," Leo said quietly as he moved along the catwalk he was perched on to get a better view of the front of the warehouse. Below, the footsteps and movements of the gang members echoed hollowly, now that there were no longer any crates against the walls to dampen the sound.

"Looks like they're confirming the deal," Don added from his vantage point. "The Dragons have handed over what I'm assuming is the cash, and the other guys have just given the Dragons what I'm guessing are the keys to the trucks."

"We should jump 'em now, before they can leave," Raph suggested impatiently, resisting the urge to pace along the edge of the roof.

"Not yet," Leo replied sharply, then had to fall silent as one of the goons below apparently heard something and looked upwards suspiciously. Leo remained completely still, confident that he was well hidden enough that nobody would spot him, but he didn't want to risk being overheard again.

Meanwhile the two Dragon thugs had taken the keys and gotten into the driver's seat of the two trucks, and the interior of the warehouse was suddenly reverberating with the sounds of their engines starting up. The other two Dragons went back outside and got into the muscle car, starting it up as well. Its headlights flicked back on, and then it maneuvered its way around to face out towards the road.

The two trucks eased forward out of the warehouse, their own headlights cutting bright paths through the night's darkness outside, and lined up one behind the other. Once they were in position, the gaudy muscle car led the way, turning right onto the narrow road that led between the clustered warehouses. The trucks followed, one after the other, the sound of their engines echoing between the buildings as they turned onto the road and gradually accelerated.

"I'm goin' after them," Raph growled into his headset.

"Hold position, Raph!" Leo's voice crackled back in reply, still quiet but decidedly heated.

"There's no time for your overcautiousness, Leo," Raph replied sharply, already moving as he leapt to the next warehouse roof, following the trucks. "I ain't lettin' them get away with those weapons!"

"Raph, wait-" But the rest of Leo's words were lost as the driver of one of the trucks revved the engine, and Raphael had no intention of letting the Purple Dragons get away with their haul. He moved swiftly, his hand dipping into his belt and flicking out again to send a pair of shuriken skimming through the air. They hit the front tyre of the truck in the lead, making it blow out and fishtail sideways, out of control. The driver attempted to keep the unwieldy truck upright, but with no success, and it soon tipped over onto its side and skidded along the ground.

The second truck was following too closely; it had no time to stop and no room to maneuver as the first truck went over and blocked the narrow road. The second truck rammed into the first with a desperate squeal of brakes and a crunch of metal against metal, followed by the grating shriek of metal against pavement as its momentum pushed the first truck further along the road before finally grinding to a halt.

Up ahead, the car screeched to a stop, accompanied by startled shouting and swearing. More shouting was coming from the thugs in and around the warehouse, and a few of them rushed out of the building and towards the crashed trucks. The drivers of the two trucks clambered out and stumbled off to the side, shaken and unsteady. Raph ignored them and sped over the rooftops to get around the Dragons that'd got out of the muscle car, then dropped down behind them and felled them both with swift blows from the pommels of his sai.

He hadn't gone completely unnoticed though - some of the other thugs had seen him, silhouetted by the muscle car's headlights, and shouted a warning to the others. Raph growled and charged, determined to drop them and clear the way for his brothers to get out.

Back in the warehouse, Leo was resisting the urge to curse at Raph's rashness. He quickly drew his own shuriken out of his belt and sent them flying, each one taking out one of the lights inside the warehouse and plunging the area into sheltering darkness. Even more confused shouts echoed through the warehouse in response to the shattering of the lights, and Leo used the noise and the darkness to silently drop down to the floor and knock out the thugs closest to him, his swords still sheathed safely on his back. He began working his way towards the doors, and swore quietly as he caught a glimpse of the crashed vehicles outside.

"Don, get to those trucks and do whatever you need to do to take care of those weapons. Once that's done, we're all out of here," Leo ordered over the headsets. "Mikey and I will keep you clear."

"Got it," Don confirmed briefly, already moving towards the warehouse doors as he drew his bo staff out of its sheath on his back. He stuck to the deepest shadows to avoid being seen, and deftly knocked out any of the thugs that came too close to him on his way out of the warehouse. Mikey wasn't far behind Don, and Leo soon caught up with him. The three of them darted through the warehouse doors and dashed towards the trucks, avoiding the patches of light that still shone from the vehicles' headlights.

Not that it seemed to matter much - there were very few people left standing between them and the trucks, and even as Leo knocked out one, he saw another go down as a familiar figure charged out of the shadows at them. A moment later, Raphael swung around to join them, falling in beside Leo. Leo shot him a heated glare, which Raph returned defiantly, but neither said anything for the moment.

As they ran, Don sheathed his bo staff again and fished around in his duffel bag, then pulled out a couple of odd metallic discs. He tossed one at the nearest truck when they got close to it, and it attached to the metal with a dull clang and began beeping. "Keep going!" he called to the others even as he continued running and tossed the second disc at the crashed truck, where it stuck to the truck's exposed undercarriage. "We should leave now!"

"Right behind you!" Leo replied, following Don and Mikey as they leapt up onto one of the trucks and used it to reach the roof of the nearest building. Raph followed right behind Leo, and within moments they were up on the roof and leaping onto the next building.

Behind them, the metal discs that Don had planted beeped faster until they hit a solid tone, and then detonated with a brief, eye-searing flash of light and a short pulse of energy. The headlights of the trucks and the muscle car went out simultaneously, but there were no explosions, no flames, no visible damage.

"Uhh…" Mikey started, glancing back over his shoulder. "What just happened?"

"Electro-magnetic pulse… of a sort," Don replied as the four of them continued loping away across the warehouse rooftops. "Something I've been tinkering with lately. The pulse will have completely fried all the electronics in those guns - and anything else within the blast radius - turning them into pretty, useless paperweights."

"Nice!" Mikey gave Don an approving thumbs-up. "No collateral damage, no setting things on fire, very nice!" He looked over at Leo and Raph. "Wouldn't you agree?"

"We wouldn't have had to use them in the first place if _someone_ had just listened to me," Leo said flatly, his gaze remaining straight ahead and his shoulders tense with restrained irritation. Raph growled in response, but before he could say anything Leo continued, ignoring him. "But we'll discuss that later, once we're back at the Lair. Splinter will be waiting for us." He sped up, forcing the others to speed up as well to keep up and cutting any more conversation off short.


	3. Chapter 3

Once they were back in the sewer system leading to the water plant in Central Park, Leo slowed down again, though his rigid bearing radiated irritation and disapproval, and still discouraged any casual talk. Raphael wasn't inclined to conversation either, as he spent most of the journey glaring daggers at Leo's shell.

That didn't stop Mikey from dropping back to walk beside Don, and he quietly slipped a nondescript black cell phone out of his belt and into Don's hand. Don blinked and eyed it for a moment, then looked back at Mikey with one brow ridge raised in silent question. Mikey just shrugged and grinned, then made a 'yoink!' motion with one hand. He'd managed to grab the phone from one of the thugs during the chaos, figuring that maybe Don would be able to do something with it.

Don eyed the cell phone again, a thoughtful expression on his face, then slipped it into his belt and gave Mikey an approving smile. Mikey beamed in return before bounding ahead to catch up with Leo as they came up to the hidden door into the water plant. He smoothly slipped past just in time to beat Leo to the door and opened it with a flourish, then bowed and swept his arm forward, gesturing for the others to enter first. "Gentlemen, after you…!"

Leo gave Mikey an exasperated look as he passed him, while Raph just ignored him and stormed through the doorway in Leo's wake, radiating aggravation. Mikey stuck his tongue out at Raph's back, which prompted a snort of laughter from Don. He stifled it behind one hand, disguising it as a cough, and lightly smacked Mikey's shoulder as he passed. Mikey just grinned and entered the Lair as well, pulling the door securely closed behind him.

Inside the Lair, Splinter had risen from his worn old armchair to greet them. "Welcome home, my sons," he said, his hands folded on top of his walking stick. "And how did your night go?"

"Thank you, Master Splinter," Leonardo replied with a bow, which the others echoed behind him. "It was a… rather productive night." Raph snorted but said nothing, and Leo shot him a quick glare before smoothing his expression back out as he looked back to Splinter.

Splinter didn't miss the tension radiating between Leonardo and Raphael, but he made no mention of it, content to let his sons work things out amongst themselves. If they wanted or needed his input, they would ask him for it. He merely nodded, his expression serene. "That is good to hear, and it is a relief to see you all still unharmed."

"It's a relief to _be_ unharmed!" Mikey interjected cheekily, grinning from beside Don.

"Not to mention it's a relief not to have to patch any of you up," Don added dryly even as he reached back and lightly smacked Mikey upside the head. Mikey didn't bother trying to duck and just winced with a theatrical little yelp, then snickered.

Splinter resisted the urge to roll his eyes and sigh at his sons' antics. "Do not stay up too late," he merely said instead. "Since there were no injuries, we will have training first thing in the morning. Goodnight, my sons." He turned and headed for his room, his walking stick tapping against the floor, and allowed himself a small smile as the turtles chorused their goodnights behind him and Mikey groaned about early morning training.

Almost as soon as the door to Splinter's room had closed behind the old rat, Leonardo spun around to face Raphael, his brow furrowed in exasperated irritation. "You and I need to talk, Raph," he said with forced calm as he moved a little further away from Splinter's room.

"Oh really?" Raph's hackles immediately went up, and he planted his hands on his hips and glared at Leo, not budging from where he was. "About what exactly, fearless leader?"

Don and Mikey exchanged resigned, rueful glances. "Fight?" Mikey murmured quietly.

"Fight," Don agreed with a roll of his eyes.

"Lab?"

"Lab." The two began edging around the bristling pair, then slipped off into Don's lab, leaving Leo and Raph to their argument.

Meanwhile, Leo had narrowed his eyes and glared unblinkingly at his red-banded brother. "What were you _thinking_, charging in like that?" Leo hissed at Raph, careful to keep his voice low despite his irritation. "I specifically told you to hold your position!"

"I was _thinkin'_ that we shouldn't let those Purple Dragon jerks get away with a whole damn lot of alien weaponry, that's what I was thinkin'!" Raph growled back, matching Leo's glare with one of his own. "Just 'cause you're too overly cautious for your own good doesn't mean I'm gonna sit 'round on my shell an' let those punks drive off with all that heat!"

"I wasn't being 'overly cautious', Raphael, I was thinking ahead!" Leo retorted, making a short, sharp gesture with one hand. "Something that seems to escape you on a constant basis! We could've followed them, found out exactly where they were taking those guns, maybe even discovered where they're stockpiling the bulk of their weaponry!"

"An' what woulda happened if we _hadn't_ been able to keep up with 'em, or find out where they were goin'?" Raph countered sharply. "We woulda had an entire shipment of alien guns in the Dragons' hands, an' the next time we saw those guns I'm pretty damn sure they wouldn't be safely stacked in crates!"

"You need to stop worrying so much about the immediate and start considering the bigger picture!" Leo countered, his voice exasperated. "Yes, your actions prevented _that_ lot of guns getting out on the street, but it _also_ prevented us from finding the Dragon's main stockpile of weapons! We could've used this opportunity to do a lot more damage to the Dragons than just getting rid of _one_ batch of weapons!"

As they continued arguing, Don and Mikey had settled down inside the cluttered room that Don had claimed and set up as his workshop and lab. Tables and benches lined the walls, some bearing various computer towers and monitors, others covered with gadgets and trinkets in various states of completion, along with tools and blueprints and notebooks. A couple of overloaded bookcases were against one wall beside a makeshift cot draped with a faded purple blanket, and more tools and equipment hung from racks on the walls above the benches.

Don slid into his chair and rolled over to his main computer desk, plugged the phone that Mikey had given him into one of his many computers, and began working his tech wizardry on it. As he worked, Mikey perched on the edge of the desk, careful to not jostle any of the multitude of gadgets and tools and parts scattered haphazardly over the desk's surface, and watched with curiosity. The sounds of the argument outside the lab drifted through the half-open door, and after a few moments of listening to it, Mikey rolled his eyes. "Think Splinter's gonna jump in to break that up at some point?" he asked Don dryly, gesturing towards the door and the two turtles beyond it.

Don shook his head, most of his attention still focused on what he was doing. "Doubt it," he replied absently. "He's already gone to bed, and at least they're being kinda quiet about it this time. Besides, you know what Splinter's said - we must learn to solve our conflicts ourselves, without his interference."

Mikey sighed and pulled one leg up to prop his heel against the table edge so he could rest his chin on his knee, his arms wrapped around his shin. "Well, I just hope they can figure that out sooner rather than later. This whole 'arguing each other to a standstill' every time they disagree over something is getting seriously old. Heck, even them just agreeing to disagree would be an improvement."

Don let out a quiet hum of agreement, then frowned at the phone. "Huh."

"Huh?" Mikey echoed, peering at the phone as well before looking over his shoulder at the multitude of monitors displaying the results of Don's efforts. "Is that a good 'huh' or a bad 'huh'?"

"Not sure yet. This thing's got some pretty sophisticated security on it," Don replied thoughtfully, tapping at his keyboard. "Nothing I can't get through, of course, but it'll take a bit more effort, and it's not exactly the sort of security I'd be expecting on a regular gang member's phone."

"Oooh, is it like super secret military security?" Mikey asked eagerly. "Maybe they really _are_ some kinda elite military unit gone rogue!"

Don chuckled and shook his head slightly, though his fingers never stopped dancing across his keyboard. "I'm starting to suspect that Raph is right and that you really _have_ been reading too many comics."

Mikey let out a huff of denial and waved one hand dismissively before wrapping it back around his shin again. "Not at all! I don't get that kinda thing from comics, anyway." He grinned at Don. "Now if he'd said I'd been watching too many action movies lately, then that'd be a whole different matter!"

Don took a moment to roll his eyes before looking back at his screens. "Right, of course," he deadpanned. "Because it's so important to be accurate with that kind of thing."

"Well, it is!" Mikey said with firm conviction.

He was interrupted from saying any more by Don suddenly leaning back in his chair with a triumphant "Hah!", his hands flying up into the air in a gesture of victory before returning to his keyboard. "Cracked the security. Now let's see exactly what all that fancy code was hiding…" He resumed typing furiously, the tip of his tongue sticking out slightly from the corner of his mouth and a look of intense concentration on his face.

As he worked, Mikey alternated between watching him and listening to the argument still going on outside Don's lab. As far as he could hear, Leo and Raph were just arguing themselves in circles, neither one willing to compromise. Especially since they both had valid points.

Don suddenly sat back in his chair again, drawing Mikey's attention back to him, but instead of another exclamation of victory he merely said, "Uh oh."

"Uh oh? I don't like 'uh oh'. That phrase is never a good phrase to hear," Mikey commented, looking back at Don with a wary expression. "Dare I ask?"

Don rearranged a few of the windows on his monitors and adjusted a few more things, then gestured to the screens with one hand. "Take a look, see if you can figure it out."

Mikey eyed Don dubiously for a moment, then shifted around on the edge of the desk so he could see all the monitors. He quickly scanned over their contents, blinked, then went back and read everything more thoroughly, comprehension slowly dawning on his face. "... Oh. _Oh_." He looked back to Don, his brows furrowed apprehensively. "Does this all mean what I think it does?"

Don just nodded, and Mikey grimaced. "Right. Good ol' turtle luck strikes again. Yikes. Dibs on not telling Leo and Raph the bad news, then."

"Gee, thanks Mikey," Don said blandly with a little shake of his head, then hauled himself out of his chair. "I suppose we should tell them sooner rather than later, get it over with at least."

"And finally break up their argument," Mikey added.

Don blinked at him in surprise. "What, they're still going?" Mikey just rolled his eyes and gestured towards the door, indicating the ongoing debate that could still be heard outside. and Don sighed again and pinched at the area between his eyes. "All right, let's go."

He led the way out of his lab, and Mikey slipped off his perch on Don's desk and followed him out. Once they were both through the doors though, Mikey bounded ahead, barrelling towards his arguing brothers who were, at this point, standing almost nose-to-nose as they snarled at each other. Leo's arms were folded across his chest, and Raph's hands were clenched into fists at his sides, his shoulders tense. At least they were still keeping their voices relatively low so as not to disturb Splinter, but the tension between them was almost palpable.

Mikey bounded up to them, unbothered by the way they pretty much ignored him in favour of continuing to snap at each other. "Terribly sorry to interrupt the lively debate you seem to have going here!" he interrupted without shame or remorse, cutting Leo off mid-spiel. "But I have good news and bad news!"

Leo and Raph both turned their heads towards him and gave him identical irritated glares, but Mikey continued undeterred. "The good news is… Donnie and I have found out just who that gang selling the weapons were!"

That pulled them both up short, and they backed away from each other, temporarily distracted from their ire, and shifted to face Don and Mikey fully. "You did?" Leo asked. "How?"

Mikey beamed at them. "I managed to lift a phone from one of the gang members when they were all distracted, and our resident genius worked his technological voodoo on it!"

Raph let out an impatient huff. "Never mind _how_ you did it and just tell us _who_ they are!"

Mikey paused dramatically for a moment before replying. "_That's_ the bad news."

Leo frowned and Raph let out an irritated little growl. "So get on with it and tell us already!"

Don cleared his throat and stepped forwards, absently drumming his fingertips together in front of him. "Well, I cracked the security on the phone Mikey snagged - which was far too sophisticated for any regular gang member to have, by the way - and got into its stored memory and contacts and everything, and did a bit of data digging and call tracing and-" He cut himself off as he saw both Leo and Raph give him impatient glares. "And long story short, I believe we have just seriously messed up an undercover police unit's attempts to bust the Purple Dragons."

That revelation was met with stunned silence for a moment as Leo and Raph absorbed the news, then Leo just slapped one hand over his eyes and grimaced. "Ah, shell."

Raph blinked at Don before frowning disbelievingly. "You gotta be kiddin'. You sure 'bout this?"

Don gestured back towards his workshop. "You can have a look yourselves, if you like."

"No, no, that won't be necessary, we believe you," Leo interrupted with a resigned sigh, dropping his hand from his face. "Shell, we _really _messed up this time."

"No kidding," Don commented wryly, then shrugged and gave Leo a lopsided little smile. "But it's not like we really had any way to know beforehand. When was the last time we actually encountered the good old New York Police Department doing much of anything?"

"And hey, look on the bright side!" Mikey chirped up. "At least we didn't actually kill anybody, right? So we don't have to worry about being labelled cop killers! And I was _almost_ right with my idea about them being some kinda military unit!"

"Mikey…!" Raph growled warningly, and Mikey quickly ducked back behind Don with a theatrical little 'eep!'. Raph glared in his direction for a moment longer, then turned back to Leo, their argument mostly forgotten in the light of this new information. "So… what now, fearless leader?"

Leo sighed, his brow still furrowed in thought. "Well… it's not like we can really own up or apologise for the whole mess, as much as I'd like to. We must've set them back weeks, if not months of work. Not to mention what we did to those weapons. I'd like to do something to make it up to them, but I'm not sure what, yet. We can't even really send in any anonymous tips, not ones that they'd be able to follow up on without knowing just who the information's from." He began pacing restlessly, his hands clasped behind his back.

Don let out a contemplative hum, rubbing at his chin with one hand. "Hold that thought, Leo," he commented. "I think I just might have a few ideas about that. But I'm gonna need some time to see what I can work out. In the meantime, we might as well get some sleep, otherwise training later is going to be all kinds of painful."

Leo stopped his pacing to look back at Don, his expression suggesting that he was about to protest not doing something right now to fix the mess they'd made. But before he could say anything, Raph clapped his hand down on Leo's shoulder. "Relax, bro," he said. "Brainiac's right, there's not much we can do right now. Get some sleep, okay? You can start stressing out about it again after training."

Leo let out a soft huff. "I do _not_ 'stress out'," he grumbled half-heartedly, then sighed again and relaxed, his shoulders slumping slightly. "But you have a point. We'll sleep on it and hopefully be able to look at things a little more clearly later."

"And by 'we'll sleep on it' you mean _all_ of us, yeah?" Mikey spoke up with a little grin, draping one arm over Don's shoulders. "Including mister 'coffee's just as good as sleep' here, right?"

Don let out an inarticulate little noise of protest, his hands flailing slightly, but Leo levelled a flat stare at him. "Yes, including Don," he stated firmly. "You've been pulling a few too many all-nighters lately, Donnie. You could use the rest, and whatever you've got in mind will keep well enough until after training tomorrow. All right?"

Don hesitated for a moment, then surrendered with a sheepish smile. "All right, all right," he agreed with resigned amusement. "I don't want you guys locking me out of my workshop and losing the key again."

"Hey, that was _one_ time…!" Mikey protested even as he began steering Don towards the hallway leading to their bedrooms. "And we didn't _lose_ the key, we merely… temporarily misplaced it!"

"You dropped it down between the couch cushions, where it got absorbed into some kind of killer sludgebunny," Don deadpanned.

"Like I said, temporarily misplaced it! We found it again… eventually… didn't we?"

"It took you _two weeks_, and by then it was a moot point. I had to borrow bolt cutters from Casey to get back into my workshop." The two continued bickering comfortably until they reached their bedrooms, where they separated with a few final words before disappearing through their respective doorways.

"Goofballs," Raph snorted dryly with a little shake of his head, then raised a brow ridge at Leo when he noticed the blue-banded turtle standing still and frowning thoughtfully off into space. "Yo, fearless leader," Raph said, lightly slapping his hand against Leo's shell. "Bed, remember?"

Leo twitched and blinked at the slap, then nodded. "Right, right. Sorry, just got a little lost in thought there," he admitted.

Raph eyed him narrowly for a moment. "You better not be doin' that whole blamin' yourself for everything goin' wrong thing again," he said blandly. "'Cause if you are, I'm gonna hafta smack you."

Leo let out a quiet little huff of wry amusement and shook his head. "No, not this time, don't worry," he reassured Raph as he started for his bedroom. "If anything, we're pretty much all to blame for this one," he added dryly. "So if you smack me, then I get to smack you. And we can both smack Mikey."

"Damn straight," Raph agreed with a crooked little grin. "Glad you see it that way." They reached their own bedrooms, and Raph hesitated for a moment before his doorway. "Hey, Leo?"

Leo paused and looked back at him, one brow ridge raised curiously. "Yeah?"

Raph gnawed at his lip for a moment before continuing. "Look, about earlier…"

Leo shook his head and lightly punched Raph's shoulder. "Forget it," he said quietly. "We all messed up this one. Don't worry, okay?"

Raph nodded, some of the tension easing out of his shoulders. "Right." He suddenly flashed Leo a quick grin. "I look forward to wipin' the floor with you in training later."

"In your dreams," Leo shot back with a little grin of his own. "Night, Raph."

"Night, Leo." With that, the two disappeared into their respective bedrooms to get what sleep they could.


End file.
